International Pressure on Russian Corruption

10/1/10 Current Event - "Up to 60 Russian officials face US ban over jail-death case"

Background information: A Moscow lawyer named Sergey Magnitsky was working on a case to expose a group of "corrupt militia" investors in the Russian government who are believed to have stolen $233 million from the national budget and the people's taxes. He was thrown in jail for supposed financial fraud and ended up dying while in jail. Coincidence? I think not.

To set an example and put their foot down at this horrid corruption, the United States has proposed a law that would ban 60 high-ranking Russian officials from entering the country. There has been massive support by the American people on the proposal and a decision is to be reached in November. Other western nations such as Poland may follow suit. On the other end though, the Russians believe that it is a "domestic issue" and international forces should not get involved.

Once again, the U.S. is determined to set the standards and act in the name of justice. I support this ban on the selected Russian officials.

Current Event 9/29/2010

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/2010/09/29/Outside-View-Averting-catastrophe-in-South-Asia/UPI-11921285756500/

The relationship between Pakistan and the United States is one of constant change and turmoil. even though the US has said that Pakistan is considered one of our allies, Pakistan feels like these are simply empty words made by US Presidents. The US worries that Pakistan doesn't support the US involvement in Afghanistan and worries about a rebellion by Pakistan as well as the amount of corruption within the country. Pakistan feels like the US holds a sense of hypocrisy due to the fact that the US advocates human rights so much but are doing nothing about the human rights issues which are occurring in Kashmir with the Indian government. Either way, both countries have unresolved issues with each other that need to be fixed in order to create a sense of stability throughout the region.

British Cuts to Military Concern U.S. Officials

9/29/10 Current Event

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/world/europe/24allies.html?_r=1&ref=unitedkingdom

As economic pressures continue to press themselves on global economies and politics, states are forced to take action. Great Britain is looking at reducing it's defense budget by up to 20% to counter it's annual deficit of $240 billion. The U.S. doubts that Great Britain will remain a strong and useful ally if these cuts are made, but Great Britain says it will still maintain a significant force so that if urgent action is needed, assistance can be given. American politicians continue to look into the effects that this may have and will begin planning on how to take action if these cuts are made.

Current event article 9-28-10

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/world/asia/29korea.html?_r=1&ref=world



N. Korea Bolsters Kim’s son and sister
-On Tuesday September 28th, 2010, a series of military promotion was arranged.
Kim Jung-Un, the youngest son of Kim Jung Il, and Kim Kyong Hui, the sister of Kim Jung Il, were promoted to four-star general. Many experts view Kim Jung-Un’s promotion as Kim Jung Il’s preparation for abdicating the whole power to his son. Considering Kim Jung-Un’s young age and lack of experience in authority, Kim Kyong Hui emerged as a key leadership in North Korea. Experts presume that Kim Jung-Un will act as a protector of Kim Jung-Un and also as a dictator with all powers. Nobody knows an exact answer for the effect of Kim Jung-Un’s promotion, but many predicts noticeable exterior effects. Promotion of foreign ministers along with Kim Jung-Un and Kim Kyong Hui suggests this possible effect.

'Mumbai-Style' terror attack on UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/29/terror-attack-plot-europe-foiled

A US, UK, French, and German intelligence operation intercepted attack plots by Pakistani based terrorist group.

Plans for Mumbai-style attacks are of great concern to British security. Through the cooperation of US, UK, France, and German intelligence agencies, attack plots on Britain, France, and Germany were interrupted. The United States has been coordinating drone raids along the Afghanistan border to target Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The raids utilize remotely controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which are equipped with intelligence gathering and defense equipment. The use of drone raids to effectively gather intelligence on terrorist groups and attacks was evident in the interception of plans for Mumbai-style attacks on Britain. As an effective means of gathering information and intercepting terrorist plots, the drone raids are expected to increase along the Afghanistan border with Pakistan.

Current Event- Nigerian Banks

Nigeria Banks Ordered to Replace Auditors Serving for 10 Years By Year-End


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-14/nigeria-banks-ordered-to-replace-auditors-serving-for-10-years-by-year-end.html


Due to their inefficiency in handling the 2009 debt crisis in the country, Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi has ordered the lenders of the country to reduce term limits for their external auditors before the end of the year. The terms will be limited to 10 years. Because the auditors handled the crisis so poorly by allowing stock to be bought by unreliable sources which causes major debts and drop in share prices. 8 of the 24 lenders have already had their chief executive officers fired because of the mishap. The Asset Management Corp. has been created to help buy back about $5 billion worth of bad loans.

Introduction.

This is our class blog. We are small but we are powerful. Kelli, Lindsay, Sara, David, Mark, and myself will be posting on here very soon so check back. This blog will be about the happenings of our class, nationally, and internationally. There is so much happening everyday and in one way or another, we do all feel the affects. So lets talk about it!